Here’s my advice on seeing “Transformers”: if you find yourself falling asleep in the middle of its two-plus hours running time due to the movie’s crushingly dull story line, monotonously unrewarding visual pyrotechnics, and director Michael Bay’s apparent disinterest in characters, don’t fight the feeling. Instead, just do I what I did and let yourself nod off. You won’t miss a thing.
Bad Movies Are Good Business
The fact that this movie was just really boring doesn’t seem to have prevented it from doing tremendous box office in its opening days. I guess it’s nothing new to express bewilderment as to why so many sub-par movies manage to bring so many people through the theater doors, but this one really bewilders me. There can’t have been so many people who, like myself, were willing to pay for a movie ticket regardless of how bad the reviews were, could there have been? I guess so.
At least there are still some quality films that manage to find wide audiences. I’m genuinely heartened by the good notices and strong box office for “Ratatouille,” the second Pixar film from the reigning animation auteur of the 21st Century, Brad Bird. Based on the impeccability of his first two features — “The Iron Giant” and Pixar’s “The Incredibles” — alone, he deserves recognition as something of a national treasure. But “Ratatouille” may be his best picture yet.
Out of the Multiplex
Okay, enough popcorn ephemera; I’ve been indulging my attraction to sensation candy long enough. This week and next, I’m looking forward to seeing as many films as I can being shown in BAM’s “Signore & Signore: Leading Ladies of Italian Cinema” festival. Actually, a chance to see Claudia Cardinale on the big screen in “La Ragazza con la valigia” probably makes for better summer pyrotechnics than anything at the multiplex.
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